Easily Traced

1895

"Stealing a typewriter," said a man who looks after the rental department of a large eastern typewriter house, "is grand larceny and a state prison offense, yet this and the further fact that an immense number of these culprits have already been sent to penitentiaries in different states do not deter dozens of others every month from making like thefts. We have a standing list of from 100 to 200 typewriters that have been stolen from our branch offices and agents in various sections of the country. Every typewriter has its own number, which cannot be effaced, and whenever we hear that a machine is missing we immediately communicate its number to our representatives in this country and abroad, with instructions to seize the machine when found and to prosecute the person holding it. It is only a matter of time when any typewriter will need adjusting and repairing and will be taken to a repairer, and then the thief is easily apprehended. Thus we actually lose few or no machines." — Philadelphia Ledger.